The onset of true depression increases sharply during the teenage years, then gradually rises to peak around age 40. Average onset age is 30 with treatment beginning usually about 3 years later.

Symptoms of Depression

Difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions.

Insomnia, early morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping, Irritability, restlessness, Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable, including sex. Fatigue and decreased energy,

Overeating or appetite loss. Severe despondency and dejection.

Persistent aches and pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not ease with treatment.

Persistent sad, anxious, or empty feeling.

Thoughts of suicide and/or suicide attempts.

Panic attacks can present a wide range of symptoms, such as:

A surge of overwhelming doom and gloom – that something terrible is about to occur and/or that you are in grave danger A strong feeling of trepidation and foreboding
A strong urgency to get out, runaway, and escape from danger
Confusion, difficulty thinking clearly
Feeling like you are about to lose control, lose it
Feeling like you might become uncontrollably hysterical
Trembling, shaking Upset stomach, nauseated
Depersonalization (feeling detached from reality, separate from one-self, separate from normal emotions)
Derealization (feeling unreal, in a dream-like state) Feeling dizzy, lightheaded, unsteady, off balance
Emotionally upset, distressed Feel like you might be going crazy
Feel like you are about to freaking out Fearful thoughts that seem incessant
Feel like you can’t calm yourself down Knot in the stomach, tight stomach
Pounding heart Racing heart Shooting pains in the chest, neck, shoulder, head, or face.

Types of Depression:

Major Depression – characterized by a deep sense of sadness or unhappiness and a lack of interest in things you used to enjoy such as hobbies, friends, or sex.

Bipolar Disorder – characterized by alternating periods of depression and elation. The high periods are called mania.

He also said that antidepressants can only “mask the problem” and that “these drugs are very dangerous.”

He called psychiatry a “pseudoscience” and suggested that there are better approaches.

Symptoms of anxiety attacks include:

A feeling of overwhelming fear
Feeling of going crazy or losing control
Feeling you are in grave danger
Feeling you might pass out
A surge of doom and gloom
An urgency to escape
Dizziness, Palpitations, Trembling, Sweating
Shortness of breath
Panic Attack / Chest pressure or pain
Turning pale
Feeling detached from reality
Weak in the knees
Burning skin
Pins and needles
Hot and cold flushes
Numbness and tingling sensations